Sage's Story
by The VK
Summary: Before the fall sage was just a regular girl, now with only her brother left, how will she live. She choses not to forget the events of the past and revenge her loved ones by killing titans. Will she be able to exact her revenge, or will she find a something deeper and want the live a whole new life all together or maybe she will face the the same fate she family.
1. Chapter 1

**Sage's Story Chapter 1**

Behind these wall are ruthless monsters that wanted to eat me, is what my older what trying to explain to me. I believe him but that didn't mean it would ever happen, no not in the past hundred years.

"Even if there are titans out there, there is no way they could get in here, the walls are too high and too strong" I said most confidently.

"That's true but don't you ever wonder, if one day they will ever find a way past the wall's and come and eat us" Eli said looking up to the sky, to avoid my disapproving gaze.

We had this conversation almost every single day for the past couple of weeks; about titans and what lies beyond the walls. He seemed really worried about this and every day I insured him that nothing would ever happen to us because these walls have protected us for the past hundred years. Even though I would repeatedly say this, I couldn't help but doubt my own words because my brother had a sort of sixth sense. He was able to sense danger; if someone he cared was hurt he could sense it. Once our little brother Landon fell down some stair while playing and hurt his legs, bad enough that he was unable to walk on his own. He screamed for help but his screams were mixed in with the cries of the other children playing but Eli was able to sense that something happened and we then found him before nigh fell. Since then I haven't doubted my older brother, so I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous as he worried about this.

"Eli" I said in the quietest voice

"What's wrong" he gave me this worried.

"What if I said I that I wanted to join the military" I said again in an even quieter, hoping he would hear me but he because he shot me a glare and we walked the rest of the way home in silence.

By the time we reached home the sun has a fallen beyond the horizon, but it wasn't entirely dark yet. We were right in front of the door and before Eli opened it I grabbed his shoulder and told not to repeat what we talked about. Our parents would surely be disappointed of what we were talking about. Going through the door and smelling the delicious dinner mother cooked made me even hungrier. While waiting for dinner I played with my little, he was especially interested in riddles these days so I recited some riddles I had learned this morning but as usual he didn't know the answer to any of them. Landon's spirit was something else even though he didn't understand any of the riddles, he would keep learning them, to one day solve. He told me that the other the day and I couldn't help but smile.

At dinner it was the usual small talk about father's day, mother's day, my day, and Eli's day, no one ever asked Landon because he would tell use anyway so what's the use.

"Eli" my father said in a stern voice which was a tone unusual for him to use during dinner.

"Yes father" Eli replied

"It's about time that you started working, your turning sixteen boy, why don't you come and work with me?"

My father was a carpenter and a popular one at that, his craftsmanship was the most respected in the entire Shiganshina district. His name had even reached the ears of people in wall rose, and I'm sure now he is hoping to involve my brother, as his apprentice. My brother keep silent and looked as if he was thinking really hard about what my father asked him. I wonder why he didn't answer straight away, I'm sure he would loved this, he's been building things with me father since he was old enough to hold a nail and hammer.

"Well what do you say boy" my father said impatiently with a smirk on his face.

"Father, I would love to come and work with you but there something I want to do"

"And what could that be my boy, go inside wall Sina?" Father said jokingly

Once again my brother fell into a long silence and the rest of us along with him; we were all anticipating what he would be say. I was especially curious because I would have thought he wanted to be a carpenter just like father.

My mother finally broke the silence "well Eli you've all got here waiting to hear you answer, please don't keep up waiting too long"

Quickly and quietly my brother muttered "I want to go outside the wall".

By the looks on my parent faces they hadn't heard what he said and were still waiting for his answer. I thought I was the only one who heard so I was going to keep quiet because I didn't want to be the one to set off father and once again we fell into silence until Landon spoke up.

"What so u want to see outside the wall Eli?"

"Landon dear what are you talking about" my said in a worried tone

"Eli just said he wanted to go outside the walls so I asked why"

At that moment we all turned to look at my father except for Eli who kept his head down. My father's gentle features hard turned had and ridged and his gaze had become very scary. Only once in my life had I'd seen my father like this and that was not a memorable event. My mother touched my father's arm as if to calm him down but I could tell she was not happy too; she just didn't want to show it.

"Sage take Landon and put him to bed" father said in a low and scary tone.

I didn't hesitate to get up and took Landon to our room, where he bombarded me with questions about what was going on. He understood somewhat because he said it all in a quiet voice so that no one but me could possibly hear him. I told him that I would explain tomorrow and put him to bed. I spent the next hour up against the door trying to hear the conversation in the next room but they were talking in hushed tone. I decided to go to bed and talk to Eli in the morning.

In the morning I woke up to find myself alone inside my room, both Eli and Landon beds were made and vacant. I found Landon at the table trying to read a book with my mother.

"Good morning mother" I said still half asleep.

"Good morning dear, did u sleep well" she said with a warm gaze in her eyes; warmth had been missing in her eyes last night. So I was glad that she back to the mother warm loved mother I knew.

"I slept well" I was reluctant to ask but I wanted to know "Mother where is Eli and Father"

"Your father took him to work with him. We thought it was the best thing to do right now. Anyway why don't you take you brother out to play. He's been waiting all morning for you to wake up, I have to go run some errands to I'll be back in the afternoon, okay"

"Okay Landon let's go"

I so desperately wanted to go and talk to Eli but I knew I shouldn't if he was around father, so I spent the morning playing with Landon. We were playing tag and I was the chaser, he wasn't that fast mainly because he was five, so I was able to keep up with him without breaking a sweat. I was chasing him through a row of houses as he quickly turned into an alley and that when I heard it. It sounded like a thunder bolt but the sky was clear and then I saw it, at the wall was a giant human without any skin. What was that, it was huge, and where is all that steam coming from, I was frozen there and couldn't take my eyes off it. Then I heard a loud knocking sound and I knew that that thing was trying to break down the wall. I immediately found Landon who was also watching that thing too from the alley. I decided to take us to father's shop which was nearby, where I found father and Eli packing up. Father said that we had to leave immediately and head to gate leading into wall Maria.

"What about mother we can't just leave her, she said that she was going into town, she should be close by" I said franticly

"Okay I'll go get her and meet you there, Eli take you sibling to the gate" father said.

He also whispered something to him but I didn't have time to ask as we hurried out the door and that when I saw them in the distance. Titans and lots of them were coming our way. Eli saw them too and immediately picked up Landon, took my hand and ran. I couldn't stand the thought that mother was out there somewhere in town close to where titans were. I looked behind and saw father running in the opposite direction towards the area where the titans were coming from. I didn't want to leave him behind but I had to keep going, I knew they would catch up.

" Sage don't stop, keep up" my brother yelled at me

By not we were half way there and I was out of breath, my lungs were burning and my legs shaking from fear.

"Where are mama and papa, I want to see them" Landon asked with tears in his eyes

"we'll see them soon don't worry, but we have to go to them at the gates" Eli said trying to pick up Landon but Landon broke free and began running back where we came from. We began chasing him and screaming for him to come back but he was running faster than I'd ever seen him and Eli and I were both exhausted from running. We couldn't catch up to him and then it was right in front us, a titan. I was frozen in place and couldn't move, so was Eli and Landon who was right in front of it.

"Landon!"I screamed but he didn't move.

Its smiling face looked as if it was enjoying seeing us cower in fear. I looked over to Eli hoping he would go to save Landon but he looked terrified. So I knew that I had to do it, mother and father would be livid if I let my little brother get eaten but it was already too late. The titan had already swooped down and picked him, it was now holding him close of its face. As if it were examining him, I could hear Landon's screams as it started crushing him. I felt so helpless, my feet wouldn't move and even if I were to try to save him, how would I. This titan is like three meters tall and I'm so small.

With all my breath I let out a wail, as I saw the titan put my little brother in its mouth and his blood run down it's the side of its face. In that moment I was going to kill it, I didn't know how but I was going to, I picked up the rock right next to me and was ready to throw it. When a garrison came flying and stabbed the titan in the eye. From behind I felt someone pick me up and was running away, but I couldn't take me eyes of the garrison, he continued slash away at it until the titan he caught him and put in a strong grip. Even though by now I was far away from them I saw the garrison look my way and flash a smile, as if he was comforting me but saying goodbye, before the titan ate him too.

The person who had picked me up was also a garrison troop and had made sure that my brother and I got on a boat. We didn't fight him, we just got on and sat somewhere in silence, afraid to talk about what we just witnessed because if we did it would be accepting that it had actually happened. That was the last thing I wanted to do. I looked at my brother and he looked more distraught than I was, I felt weal because he was always my moral support but right now I couldn't do anything for him

The rest of the day went by in a haze of screams, sobs and blood.

That day was the last time I saw my little brother , my mother and my father.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sages Story chapter 2**

The cold was biting at my exposed flesh as I was doing my nightly jog. Graduation was approaching and I was practicing for the final series of test. I know for sure that I would be able to ace the maneuver gear, stamina, and endurance tests, as for intelligence the instructor always called me quick tempered. Even if it was a titan dummy, I was still rash and quick to attack it, often leading to mistakes or the endangerment of my teammates but it didn't bother me much. Ever since that day years ago, there hasn't been a day where I hadn't thought of my weakness from back then. The day the wall fell, on that day I lost everything; my brothers, mother and father. Even though my older brother Eli was still alive, on that day the brother I had known died as well. Ever since then, I've never seen him cry or even show a flicker of emotion, he completely shut down and now he just quietly goes about his business as a carpenter. Just as my father wished so long ago, Eli became a carpenter, not just a carpenter but one of the best but he's just not my brother anymore. He didn't even bat an eye when I told him I was enlisting; he just nodded and went quietly back to work as always. It was a strange and I've regretted feeling this but ever since I've come to training camp, I haven't missed him at all. In this world it felt like I was all alone until I met the other, people who were just like me. These people also experienced pain and suffering, some didn't but they were now my family and even though my actions were reckless and I acted as if I didn't care, I wouldn't want to lose them.

Without realizing I had finished my run and found myself in front of the canteen staring off into space until someone hit me one the back. It was my friend Amelia; she had been my friend from day one, when she found me in one of the equipment sheds crying. She's the only person who knows my story and I know hers. It's similar to mine she'd lost some of her family member that day too, but what was worse, was that she became an orphan when the government sent all the her father to reclaim wall Maria, including her many others. Without purpose and all alone she decided to join the military to avenge her family. Out of all the other troops she was the most promising, in the top three along with Ava and Thomas.

Dinner wasn't that special, it was the same as usual and didn't necessary spark my taste buds. After dinner a group of us Thomas, Amelia, Alfie and I took a trip into the wood were we practiced sparing. Every minute was not to be wasted as I could still increase my rank.

"If u can't even do a simply counter, how are you going to increase your rank" said Alfie with a grin on his face.

"Don't worry I was just warming up" I said while getting back onto my feet

"Well you warm up is over, we've been practicing sparing for two hours now, even Thomas and Amelia left a while ago. Come on sage it's time to go, we can train more when the sun come up."

"Fine let's go" I said reluctantly

"Frankly Sage, you're getting sloppy, I know you want to have a high rank but your working too hard and stressing too much. If you don't take time to relax you going to mess u on the final evaluation. Why is it so important to even have a high rank anyway, you one of the best fighters, everyone know that, you might be a bit reckless but who cares. So why is it, why is rank so important to you?"

I didn't know the answer to that question, why rank was so important to me, I wasn't sure to why or how to answer him. I just had this strong burning feeling inside of me, saying that I had to of high rank. I guess being of high rank is my way of being successful. Being in the top three meant that I was strong, strong enough to take down a titan, at least that's what I thought. I guess it was a way of fulfilling the promise I made to myself when I saw Landon get eaten; that I would become strong, strong enough to kill titans. I was lost deep in thought because I couldn't even hear Alfie calling my name until he screamed it in my ear.

"Hello, hey Sage, I've been trying to call you all this time but you wouldn't even answer, anyway I would love hear your answer but as you can see were right in front of the dorms now, so I'm gonna go now, see ya"

Now that the final evaluations were coming up I was spacing out more, that's not good, even if Alfie is really laid back he was right, I was stressing myself out to much. I had to relax and get all these thoughts about the past out of head, so that when it came time I would be completely focused on the evaluation. I was so lost in thought that I hadn't realized that Alfie had left and the lights in the dorms had already gone out. I was now engulfed in darkness and for some reason it scared me, it felt as if a horrible memory would come to life, emerge from the shadows and attack me. So I rushed back to the girl's dorm and went to bed trying to get those terrifying thoughts out of mind before it haunts me in my sleep as a nightmare.

The rest of the week went by really quickly, I spent most of my time training, sparing or taking Alfie advice and relaxing. The night before the final evaluation at dinner I was sitting with the usual gang, of Thomas, Alfie, Amelia and Ben. Even though we had all known Ben for some time now we had never heard him speak a word unless he had too, everyone wonder why but I knew the answer. Ben had experienced the same thing my brother did, he had gone through such a terrifying experience that his speech was taken away from him. It was probably because at that time he couldn't even scream like my brother was back then, just so frozen in terror that letting out a sound was now a taboo action. He had never told his story nor did I want to ask about a sensitive topic, so I decided to use my knowledge and guess what his story is or at least the reason why he doesn't speak

"Are you guys ready for tomorrow" I said quietly so that people at other tables couldn't hear me.

"Of course this is what we've been all training so hard for" replied Amelia

"What I want to know is where you guys are planning on going from here, the Garrison, the Survey Corps, of the Military Police Brigade" Alfie said curiously in a quite tone.

We all stayed quite for a moment waiting for some to say their choice but what we were really waiting for was for someone to say that they were joining the Survey Corps. I was planning on joining it myself but I didn't want to abruptly say it, my plan on joining them was something I had kept to myself, so close that I haven't told Amelia but she probably already knew. I was curious to what Amelia would say I know she wanted to avenge her family like me, but I couldn't help but feel we were too different. Not so long ago, I started to get the feeling that she didn't want this kind of life anymore, that she wanted someone more calm and peaceful, with less hate and painful memories. She would probably place in the top three and join the Military Brigade to live and peaceful life away from titans. I doubt anyone in the inner most wall has ever seen a titan, so those bastards over there looked down upon us, as if their ignorant eyes were somehow better.

"Survey corps" said Thomas, then Amelia, then Ava, then Alfie.

I was in shock that they had all said they'd go into the survey corps

"Well Sage what is your choice" asked Thomas staring at me with an intense glare

After a long breath I said "where else the Survey Corps"

"Now only to hear Ben's answer, I know you don't talk much but we all said what were going into, make it fair and tell us where you're planning to go" Thomas said in a husky demanding voice

After a long pause Ben mouthed the word Survey Corps.

"Well it seems we'll all be together after this" Amelia said with a smile on her face

"Don't get to happy about this Amelia because things might change, no I definitely know that someone hear will change. Maybe it could be me you or Thomas since probably going to be in the top three, maybe one of us won't be able to resist the urge to go and live in inner most wall" Ava said.

"Are you saying that you've changed your mind and your gonna become a Military Brigade, Ava?" Thomas said in a most serious tone.

"No I'm saying that things change, has any of us hear ever fought a real titan, so far we've only been fighting dummies, not the real thing" Ava replied sounding a bit annoyed.

I was surprised by Ava's tone because for the time that I had known her, she always seemed so composed and now at the it seemed she was becoming quite heated.

" Ava I'm sure you've figured it out too, so whether just because it not real doesn't mean we're going to become coward when the time comes" Thomas said not taking his eyes of her.

The atmosphere was getting really intense and wasn't sure what exactly they were talking about. What had they figured out, I wanted to ask but I was afraid to but in the conversation.

"Yes I figured it out the second I meet everyone, but things change just remember that" Ava sharply replied.

"Really it took me a little while to figure it out" Amelia interrupted

"Me too, I had a feeling but it became obvious after a while" Alfie said

Ben also nodded his head at this. Meaning that I was the only one unaware of what they were talking about.

"What are you guys talking about, what this obvious thing that you've all figured out" I said desperately seeking and answer

"Look around Sage, everyone at this table had the same look on their face when we first got here, don't you remember" Ava said back on her usual formal tone

The first day here seemed like years ago but I remember as clear as day. We were all lined in four rows of ten and the commander was hazing. He wasn't hazing all of, just the ones who lacked conviction, it was really obvious, and you could easily tell who belonged there and who didn't. The one who belong already had that look, the look of pain, terror and sorrow at the hands of the titan. By the time they enlisted in the military they already had a strong conviction about killing titans and nothing was going to stop them. Among the mix of people I was one of those who had conviction, along with Amelia, Thomas, Ava, Ben and Alfie.

"Oh I get it now, I'd almost forgotten"

Now that I had remembered that I was sure that we would all join the survey corps. Even though I didn't know everyone's story I knew, just like they did that we'd all experienced horrors of that day.

We'd finished our dinner, and quietly went back to our beds, without a word we went to sleep, in anticipation of the final evaluation tomorrow.

Gliding through these woods was easy for me since this is where I'd been training the most since I got my maneuver gear. I easily flew past the trees and the obstacles in front of me until me I reached the titan dummy which forced me to rest on a branch. Without noticing I was far ahead of the others but I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I did this solo, with my blades I effortlessly sliced the nape of the titan's wooden neck. By then the others had caught up and we moved on to finish the group evaluation. The other evaluations weren't too eventful and weren't too difficult for me.

It was now night time and we had all gathered where it all began, in the field where we stood as regular citizens about to begin training but now we soldiers. I was standing in between Thomas and Alfie as the commander was giving a speech about picking a faction and blah, blah, blah. I wasn't paying much attention because I was too anxious to hear the rankings. After what seemed like forever the commander announced the rankings:

1st – Ava Roma

2nd - Amelia Franz

3rd – Thomas Lande

4th – Ben Gerun

5th – Anna Herts

6th – Sage Nurtz

7th – Alfie Yumik

After I had heard my name I tuned out the rest of the rankings, I was overwhelmed with joy, even though I wasn't in the top three I was still a high ranker. I looked the clear night sky and stared at the bright shining stars and under my breath I whispered "Landon can you see me, I'm strong now"

"What was that are you bragging about placing higher than me now" Alfie said interrupting my moment

" yes I was thanking that branch for tripping you during the evaluation, making you fall out of that tree and flat on you face" I replied with a smirk

"If it wasn't for that I would have been number five" Alfie said

"Then I would have been number four" I said sarcastically

After Alfie had left to go to the canteen, I sat down and continued to look at the night sky, which reminded me about the times I would do this with my brother Eli. We would go the top of the hill closest to our house and look at the night sky and talk about what it would be like to be a star in the sky. These were now only memories to me and they would remain that way, Eli probably didn't even remember those times nor did he even care. Not wanting to continue thinking about this I stood up and made my way to the canteen, where I found everyone celebrating.

"Finally we are finished this hellish training we can finally start living again, tomorrow when we go into town I'm gonna go and buy the finest bread before we chose our faction" Amelia said excitedly.

"Make sure to share that with everyone else" Alfie said with the same excited expression on his face.

Late into the night we celebrated that we were finished with our training and that we could finally return to civilization instead of this small plot of woods that we were imprisoned in. I was overjoyed to finally being one step closer to my goal.

I'm not sure how but once again I found myself outside staring up into the sky, lost in thought until Thomas came up beside me.

"We are finally going to leave but what do you think is waiting for us out there" Thomas said looking out in the sky.

"I'm sure the cities haven't changed much Thomas"

"No I mean outside the walls"

"Then that would be titans" I replied

"I know we both have encountered titans before but meeting one and fighting one are two different things. Thomas said sounding unsure of him self

"I know that but back then I just stood there and let my little brother get eaten as someone carried me away. I am no longer going to be that weak anymore, I'm going to fight back" I said sounding proud of the words that I have just said

"I know how you feel, but just because we have passed a test on fighting fake titans made of wood doesn't mean that we can fight the real thing, the closer we get to encountering titans, the more our nightmares of that time will be relived" Thomas said with eyed staring into mine

"The only thing I'm interested in is getting revenge" I said I with a bit of irritation in my voice

"Getting revenge on who, the titan that killed your brother, does that mean you're going to spend your life looking for that one titan?"

What he said really made me anger, who gave him the right to judge me and what I wanted to.

"If it means so, then yes I will but why are you asking all these questions, who are you to judge the reason why I'm here and what I spend my life doing, if you are scared then go join the brigade and live the rest of your life like a coward" I said trying not to yell in a fit of rage.

Surprised by what I said Thomas lowered his head and looked at the ground for some time, then turned his gaze back at me. His expression didn't hold the same intensity that it usually does; instead it looked soft and tired. I felt I bit sorry because it seemed that maybe he wasn't trying to question me, maybe he had different intentions.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking about things, because you and I have the same dream to kill titans but now that were one step closer to it, what's next, we kill a titan then what. People like us who are fueled solely by revenge will falter when the time comes, because we don't have any real ambition or drive. Just some unfulfilled hunger to rid ourselves of the weakness we once owned" Thomas solemnly said and then walked away back to his dorm.

Under this clear night sky, I began to question what I was really doing and whether or not I had really become strong or if over the all these years I had just gotten weaker. I was now scared for what was to come, I walked into the wood, sat down leaning on a tree, facing away from the dorms so that no one could see me crying.


End file.
